Toespraak van minister Schippers voor de WHO-conferentie over International Health Regulations

Toespraak | 24-03-2016

Mesdames, messieurs, chère Marisol,

Merci beaucoup d’organizer une conférence sur ce sujet de quelle importance. Permettez-moi de continuer en Anglais.

November last year Paris was struck by horrifying terrorist attacks. Yesterday our common neighbor Belgium got hit. Our hearts and minds are with the victims and their loved ones. Acts like these cause death, perdition and are meant to create disunity. The only answer is to continue our way of living, to fight for our freedom. These terrorist acts show the need for cooperation. Within countries, but also between countries. Therefore I want to thank the French government and the European Commission for organizing this conference on cooperation in the field of health. International Health Regulations are key in our common aim for global health security.I am glad to see that Europe is showing its willingness to take responsibility.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Not only Europe, also the United States, with many partner countries, has taken action: 'Detect, Prevent and Response' is the slogan of the Global Health Security Agenda. A slogan that is well chosen and perfectly reflects our common agenda. At the same time, we are not satisfied with fine slogans, statements and promises. At the same time, we are waiting for actions. At the same time, 2/3 of all member states indicated that they do not have their core International Health Regulations capacities in place. 2/3. I don’t know about you, but to me that does not sound prepared for the next outbreak.  Which will occur! Sooner or later. That does not sound  protected or responsive. It sounds rather vulnerable.

Now we in the Netherlands know from experience that it is not a piece of cake to implement the International Health Regulations when circumstances are less ideal. Yes, we managed to implement them properly in our well organized, strategically located country. But being involved in the same process in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom gave me a clear impression of how complicated it can be. In small, remote islands in the middle of the ocean, with limited capacities.

So we learned that implementation of International Health Regulations starts with assessing the situation. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your country? Of course, in an ideal world self-assessment would provide us with enough information. In reality we cannot overlook the fact that self-assessment is not working the way it should.

Therefore, it is essential that we combine self-assessment with an objective tool. This is also one of the main recommendations of the Review Committee that were presented last Monday. That is why I am very impressed with the Joint External Evaluation tool.

A tool that has been developed by the Global Health Security agenda partners and the World Health Organization. Let us make full use of this tool! We have to assess all countries as soon as possible. So we can inform each other honestly. Of course, The Netherlands is very much willing to undergo an external assessment as well this year.   

Secondly, after assessing the situation the million dollar question is how to implement. In the Caribbean parts of the Netherlands, we choose to share facilities and cooperate strongly. I can imagine that this can work  in other parts of the world as well. The G7 shows great leadership in this respect by supporting 67 countries with IHR implementation.

Thirdly, the One Health approach is crucial when it comes to implementing the multi-hazard approach of IHR. All essential steps, ladies and gentlemen. Yet none of them can be achieved without a World Health Organization that is completely fit for its purpose.

The Ebola crisis has created a momentum for reforming the outbreak and emergency system of the WHO. It is now implementing a single program for outbreaks and emergencies. With a single budget. A single line of command. I urge Director General Chan to continue on this road.

A highly significant step in improving global health security. And complementary to the already established instruments. Like the Global Health Work Force and the Contingency Fund. I am pleased that last month the EU has inaugurated the European Medical Corps as a contribution to the Global Health Workforce. The Netherlands is actively involved.   I am even more pleased to announce that the Netherlands will contribute one million Euro to the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies.

But excellencies, ladies and gentleman, will this be enough to get the WHO in the right position?

The answer is of course NO. All reviews, evaluations and other reports that have been published in the wake of the Ebola crisis agree: we have collectively failed to invest in the outbreak and emergency tasks of the World Health Organization. Over the years we have created a WHO that operates with an action plan for every single global disease we are dealing with. However, we neglected the core of our global responsibility – which is global health security. So it is time to prioritize! It is time to put global health security at the centre of all WHO activities.

Even so, it is time to acknowledge the unbalance between core funding and voluntary funding of the WHO. One quarter  core funding. Three quarters voluntary funding. Voluntary funding may sound positive, yet its downsides have become clear over the last years. Voluntary funding comes with demands. Voluntary funding comes with conditions. And all these demands and conditions are met at the expense of global outbreak and emergency tasks: our vital collective immune system. This is exactly why the WHO has had so much problems to prioritize. I feel this is a crucial issue. We cannot seriously be prepared for the next global outbreak – which  will occur, sooner or later – if we are not seriously involved in Global Health Security.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Fine slogans, statements and promises will  not prepare us for the next calamity. Serious commitment, shown by actions and proper, stable financing, will.

This conference is an important step in our joint effort to strengthen the implementations of IHR. The conclusions of this conference will feed the discussions and decisions that we need to take on the next World Health Assembly.

Thank you!